Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Fly me to the moon

Via Instapundit, trying to find cheaper ways to get to the moon - and beyond.The report envisions setting up a lunar industrial base that mines water from the lunar regolith, processes it into hydrogen, then sends the hydrogen into orbit around the moon so that spacecraft on their way to Mars (or elsewhere in the solar system) can stop by to get a fuel boost. Such an endeavor could shave off $10 billion per year in the cost of getting to the red planet. The report estimates that this industrial base would house four astronauts, and within 12 years of the initial landings, provide 200 megatons of propellant at a total cost of $40 billion.